Lisa Montgomery is scheduled to be executed by the federal government in a few days, and her attorneys say that she was an abusive child.
She was raped by her mother's friends and beaten by her stepfather.
She was raped and beaten by her stepbrother at 18. She had four children in less than four years. She faked pregnancies and became mentally ill.
She drove 175 miles from her home in east-central Kansas to her next destination after loading a steak knife, umbilical cord clamps and part of a clothesline into her car.
She cut the baby from her stomach.
Montgomery took the baby home and passed her off as her own until investigators arrested her the next day.
Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in January. She has exhausted all legal options and only filed a last-ditch appeal for clemency on Christmas Eve.
Randy Strong, one of the lead investigators in the case, wants Montgomery executed.
The cold, vicious, calculating and brutal nature of Montgomery's crimes shows that she knew what she was doing.
He said it was the act of a monster. She needs to die.
Her family and attorneys say that the trauma she experienced as a child caused her brain damage and her genetic disposition to severe mental illness, which led to her killing Stinnett.
Diane Mattingly says that her half- sister lost touch with reality when she starred in Montgomery's crime show.
Montgomery is not among the worst of the worst for whom the death penalty is intended, according to Mattingly.
Mattingly said that she was the most broken of the broken.
What you need to know about Montgomery and her victim.
Lawyers say that they were abused by their parents.
The day her half-sister was brought home in a pink bundle, Mattingly was 57.
She said that she smiled when she squeezed her hand. I fell in love.
Mattingly said she and Montgomery share the same father who was a decorated Vietnam War veteran. He married Judy Shaughnessy in Miami, Okla., in 1967.
Shaughnessy had six husbands during her life, the second of which was Patterson. According to court records, Shaughnessy drank too much during her pregnancies and caused brain damage to Montgomery.
The photo of Lisa Montgomery was provided by her attorneys.
Mattingly and Montgomery were close. They slept in twin beds in a small bedroom and held hands. When another daughter was born in 1970, their family lived at Fort Riley in Kansas.
Mattingly said that Shaughnessy became increasingly abusive towards them, at times forcing him to eat raw onions as punishment and go outside in the cold.
Mattingly said that Shaughnessy beat the girls with brooms and belts.
She said that protecting her half- sister became her sole purpose in life.
Mattingly said that her half- sister hid her from random baby-sitters and older men whom their mother left with them.
Mattingly said one of those men raped him frequently.
She said that little Lisa was in the bed next to her.
In 1971, Shaughnessy took custody of the girls after the divorce of Patterson and Shaughnessy. At Montgomery's sentencing hearing in 2007, he said that Patterson made a mistake by abandoning them.
Shaughnessy was no longer Mattingly's legal guardian because of the divorce. In 1972, Mattingly was removed from Shaughnessy's mobile home at Ogden, a community of about 1,960 people in Riley County.
When she realized Montgomery wasn't coming with her, Mattingly's heart sank. She said she saw terror in her half- sister's eyes.
The US has not executed a woman in 67 years. That could change in Terre Haute.
Montgomery's attorneys, Kelley Henry and Amy Harwell, said that her terror was correct. Shaughnessy put duct tape over Montgomery's mouth and beat her children with cords and hangers, according to the attorneys.
Shaughnessy forced Montgomery to have sex with men in exchange for money and services, and also punished her children by killing the family dog in front of them, according to the attorneys.
Jack Kleiner was a divorced father of five who married Shaughnessy in 1974. Kleiner drank heavily, beat his wife and children, and made his daughters take off their clothes before spanking them.
The family moved a lot. Montgomery lived in a number of states as a child. She was described as a quiet person who spent a lot of time reading.
The photo of a young Lisa Montgomery is in federal court records.
According to court records, Kleiner and a few of his friends raped Montgomery when she was in her teens.
A sworn statement from David Kidwell Jr., who is Montgomery's cousin and a deputy sheriff, said she cried when she told him that Kleiner and his friends had raped her.
Kidwell said that he didn't know what to do and that he lived with regret for not speaking up about what happened to Lisa.
In 1985, Kleiner and Shaughnessy divorced, with Shaughnessy saying she once walked in on Kleiner and Montgomery having sex. The judge said that it was "inexcusable" that Shaughnessy didn't report the situation to authorities and get counseling for Montgomery.
Kleiner told a reporter in 2005 that Shaughnessy's allegation was made up to support her divorce case.
Kleiner said he never molested her in any way.
Her stepbrother also beats her and rapes her.
Court records say that observers noticed that Montgomery was "spaced out," "not emotionally present" or in her own little world as she grew up.
After graduating from high school, Montgomery wanted to join the Air Force to earn money for college.
Richard Boman's son got Montgomery pregnant, and her mother married him in 1985. They were married in 1986.
Court records show that Montgomery gave birth to five children.
According to court records, Carl Boman wasn't the father of one of the girls.
Montgomery and Carl Boman divorced in 1998.
Teddy Kleiner gave a sworn statement that he had seen a home video that showed Carl Boman raping and beating Montgomery.
He said it was violent and like a scene from a horror movie. My sister was in pain. I was sick watching the video. I didn't know how to talk to my sister about it.
Teddy Kleiner, the son of Shaughnessy and Jack Kleiner, was shot and killed in North Topeka in 2019. The case is still unsolved.
Montgomery's family moved from place to place during her adult years, continuing the pattern she had known as a child. She lived at 61 addresses before she went to prison.
After her house was found to be filthy, her children were seen running naked in her yard and one of her daughters drank a bottle of Tylenol, questions were raised about her ability to function as an effective parent.
The only gas pump in town is at Jonesy's Service, which is where Lisa Montgomery lived.
Melvern has a population of over 300 people and is 40 miles south of Topeka. Kevin Montgomery, a divorced electrician with children of his own, married her the following year.
The year before she killed Stinnett, Lisa Montgomery tried to get counseling but was not connected to a quality provider.
Court records say that she faked pregnancies several times.
According to newspaper accounts, Boman filed a court action in December of 2004 to get custody of their two children who were still living with Montgomery.
The email address is used to lie.
Montgomery contacted Stinnett after meeting her at a dog show in north-central Kansas, where they posed with others in a photo.
Stinnett and her husband, Zeb, lived in a small town in the northwest corner of the state.
Montgomery and Stinnett were on the rat terrier Chatter online message board. Montgomery made false statements to upset other users of the board.
Montgomery used a fake name and email address to set up a meeting with Stinnett, according to the charging affidavit. Montgomery claimed to live in northwest Missouri.
Montgomery was looking for a dog for Christmas. Stinnett was on the phone with her mother when Montgomery's dirty red Toyota pulled up.
Kevin Montgomery has a Facebook page. They have been married for a long time.
She said she had to go.
Randy Strong, one of the investigators who would later get Montgomery to confess, said that Montgomery probably slipped a garrote over Stinnett's head as she was putting a puppy into a dog carrier.
Stinnett was sliced into her stomach with a steak knife after Montgomery killed her. Stinnett grabbed at Montgomery's knife and pulled out some hair before Montgomery killed her.
Montgomery took Stinnett's baby and used baby wipes to clean her.
She went into labor while shopping for Christmas gifts and called her husband to say she had given birth in a birthing center.
The Montgomerys showed off a newborn girl dressed in a pink bonnet as they ate breakfast at the Whistle Stop Cafe. They introduced her as their daughter, and made a lot of stops.
Main Street in Melvern connects its few remaining businesses with main roads to and from other small Kansas cities.
The couple returned to their home near Melvern, which was being watched by investigators working to identify the woman who had told Stinnett she was.
Montgomery is holding a baby.
Montgomery smelled like an ashtray and body sweat as she was being questioned by Don and Randy Strong.
In northwest Missouri, Strong was a police detective in Maryville, 14 miles northeast of Skidmore, and the other was a detective in Cameron. They were called in to help the FBI find the missing child of Stinnett's killer.
Nodaway County, Mo., Sheriff Randy Strong was one of the investigators who got a confession out of Lisa Montgomery.
He said that he got a phone call from Montgomery's house that the last email Stinnett received had come from there. A group of rat terriers greeted them.
"That made me feel a chill up my spine," Strong said. We knew we were walking into the house.
Kevin allowed investigators inside. Strong saw an amber alert about the abduction of Stinnett's baby on a TV set.
Bobbie Jo Stinnett's hometown waits as the killer's execution date nears.
He said that there was a woman on the sofa holding a baby.
The baby was very still and didn't cry, which worried Strong.
The baby's head was considered to be round by Strong, a former paramedic who had watched the births of all three of his children. He said that babies tend to have crooked heads initially because of the pressure they experience as they go through the birth canal.
The baby of slain mother Bobbie Jo Stinnett is seen in this image taken from video and released by MSNBC.
Strong said he and Fritz questioned Montgomery about his actions.
Strong said he noticed dried blood and tissue on her fingernails as Montgomery patted her back. They were shown to be Stinnett's after the testing.
After investigators separated her from her husband and the baby, Montgomery began changing her story about having the baby at a birthing center. Montgomery said she had given birth at home with help from two friends and that she had given birth alone.
As long as she had cigarettes, Montgomery continued to talk. Montgomery admitted that she acted alone in killing Stinnett and taking her baby.
Montgomery told investigators she was surprised at how well they had treated her.
Kevin Montgomery was also questioned by authorities, but they concluded he wasn't involved. He was quoted as saying that his wife had given birth.
He said he held that baby proudly.
The five investigators who went to Montgomery's home recently began communicating with one another again, said Strong, who is now sheriff of Nodaway County.
FBI Special Agents Mike Miller and Scott Gentine and a police officer were also involved. Strong said that the five are "bonded for life" because they are haunted by Stinnett's murder.
He said he was "reduced to tears" when Stinnett sent him a message on the 16th anniversary of Montgomery's arrest. His message was a very sincere thank you.
Strong arranged for that message to be shared with the four others.
The brain expert at the trial says crime is committed in mental fog.
The courthouse in Lyndon is one of the places Lisa Montgomery took the baby she kidnapped after killing her mother.
Montgomery was tried in federal court for kidnapping and causing death. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Montgomery had been sexually abused as a child, which caused her to become mentally ill and kill her soul, according to the defense attorney.
Many people are sexually abused, but few go on to kill, according to prosecutors.
Montgomery had a false belief that she was pregnant, which caused her to suffer from pseudocyesis, according to Vilayanur S.
Women who suffer childhood sexual abuse are more likely to suffer pseudocyesis, a condition in which they show physical symptoms of pregnancy, including enlarged breasts and stomach, morning sickness and cravings for certain foods.
Montgomery told him she didn't remember cutting the baby out of Stinnett's body. He said that Montgomery was in a mental fog at the time.
Montgomery had a number of mental disorders, jurors were told.
Stinnett's mother called for help after finding her body. Harper told the caller that her daughter's womb appeared to have exploded and that blood was everywhere. Stinnett was not breathing and was cold.
She said, "God, no, please." "Come on, baby." Please, honey.
At least five of the 12 jurors and three alternate jurors wiped away tears.
The city hall is shown in the photo.
Montgomery had visited a website featuring a video of a live C-section birth, which was described as lasting from first cut to last stitch, and had made a practice run by driving the 350 miles from Melvern to Skidmore the day before the killing.
The jury was asked to think about Stinnett's daughter in closing arguments.
She will have the anniversary of the slaughter of her mother on her birthday. Every year. For the rest of her life.
A jury recommended that Montgomery be executed in October of 2007. The jury's recommendation was upheld by the judge.
The jury found six factors that supported capital punishment. There was a lot of planning andmeditation.
Montgomery is viewed as 'evil personified' by the investigator.
Randy Strong is unhappy that some people are asking that Montgomery be spared his life. He said that Montgomery is evil.
"I don't think people understand how bad this was," Strong said.
He said that the jury heard testimony about her mental illness and her history of being abused, but still unanimously recommended her execution.
"I have seen a lot of horrible things happen to women and children in law enforcement," Strong said. He said that no other victims responded by killing a woman and cutting her baby out of her stomach.
She changed her story to say that her half-brother Tommy Kleiner killed Stinnett.
Kleiner was meeting with a parole officer when he was killed, according to Strong.
"That's how bad this woman is," Strong said. She tried to throw her brother under the bus because she committed a crime.
Tommy Kleiner and Montgomery are still in touch. He filed a federal lawsuit against the county because he was not allowed to send letters to Montgomery.
Kleiner's sister is on death row. My letters are important.
A previous attorney says that she was traumatised. She was sick.
Montgomery was briefly represented by Ron Wurtz, a retired attorney who has represented dozens of capital case defendants. He said she stood out to him because there appeared to be something wrong with her.
Montgomery had trouble responding to questions, which made the capital case defendants more emotional.
He said it was clear that she was somewhere else. She was sick. I can't go any further than that because I'm not a Psychiatrist.
Montgomery is to be executed, and that is idiotic.
He said that he couldn't understand why they had to kill the woman.
The residents of towns tied to the murder say the aftermath is still very painful.
Strong, the investigator who helped convince Montgomery to confess, said that the effects of Stinnett's murder are still being felt. He said residents there think her execution would bring an end to a painful chapter in the city's history.
Joe Warner, who was Melvern's mayor at the time of Montgomery's murder, said that residents of Melvern were divided on whether she should pay for her crimes with her life.
Melvern Mayor Lyndon Weddle sits in a wooden rocking chair and talks about the quiet way of life enjoyed by residents of her community, where Lisa Montgomery lived.
He said that there was a lot of discussion when he was in Texas.
Warner said the Melvern residents were shocked by the killing.
Lyndon Weddle, the current Mayor of Melvern, said that residents are tired of being connected with Lisa Montgomery and that Melvern is a friendly rural community where people wave when they pass each other.
Who was the last woman executed by the US government? Another case with Missouri ties.
When she retired nine years ago, Weddle moved to Melvern because she wanted peace and quiet.
She said the way Melvern is perceived has been affected by Montgomery's crimes and the way the Westboro Baptist Church is perceived as anti-gay.
She said that Melvern residents want that perception to end.
"Melvern Pride" is the focus of a sign at the city limits of Melvern, the community where Lisa Montgomery lived.
Lawyers fighting for her life say she can appear out of touch with reality.
The Carswell Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas has held Lisa Montgomery for 12 years. She was scheduled to die by lethal injection on December 8. She couldn't speak when she called her attorneys.
Henry said that she was hyperventilating. It was terrible.
The execution date was changed to January 12.
30 other inmates on federal death row were sentenced before her, so she was surprised to see Montgomery scheduled for execution so soon.
Henry said that no one will be sentenced to death for the 16 other US cases in which a woman attacked a pregnant woman and her unborn child in an attempt to take the child and ended up killing one or both of them.
Fourteen of the offenders are serving long prison sentences, while two of them died by suicide in custody, according to a list Henry provided.
Montgomery was put on suicide watch as soon as her execution date was set, and she had attempted suicide before.
She said that they put her on suicide watch to make sure she doesn't kill herself.
Montgomery was kept in a solitary confinement cell at Carswell for seven days a week after being allowed to have contact with a limited number of inmates.
Henry said that Montgomery was initially given one crayon and one piece of paper, but nothing else.
Toby Dorr provided a photo she took of a letter Lisa Montgomery wrote to her using black crayon.
Henry said that Montgomery wasn't allowed eyeglasses or a CPAP machine because she is far-sighted and near-sighted.
The number of crayons and pieces of paper has been increased. She is allowed to do puzzles, coloring pages, and one book at a time.
Montgomery was expected to be transferred to Terre Haute, Ind., where she would be put to death.
Henry said that Montgomery's mental illness causes her to disengage when life becomes too terrible to endure.
When Montgomery was raped as a child, she was forced to retreat into an imaginary house, where she could forget about it.
Montgomery's attorneys say that she feels deep remorse for her crimes, but her understanding of her situation fades.
The fate of the only woman on federal death row hinges on the health of these Tennessee attorneys.
"Lisa's trauma was so severe that it compromised her neurological functioning and development," they said. Lisa has trouble processing information and navigating social relationships. She struggles to maintain her own hygiene, loses focus and has trouble planning simple tasks.
When Henry and Harwell traveled to visit her in October and November at Fort Worth, Montgomery seemed out of touch with reality. Both became sick with COVID-19, believing it to be transmitted during the prison visit.
Montgomery's execution was put off until January because her attorneys couldn't file her clemency petition because of their COVID-19 symptoms.
Toby Dorr says that Lisa Montgomery is worried that her upcoming execution will be hard on her fellow inmates.
A former prisoner and his friend see a good person side.
Toby Dorr said that Montgomery was worried that her fellow inmates would have trouble dealing with her execution.
Montgomery wrote a letter to Dorr in late November that said other inmates at Carswell took it really hard when her execution date was set.
Dorr said that Montgomery lamented that she couldn't be present to console them because she was in solitary confinement.
Dorr ran a dog training program for inmates at a northeast Kansas prison where he helped an escaped prisoner.
Dorr fell in love with John Manard, a convicted murderer, when her marriage was failing. She helped him escape in a dog crate and went to prison after a vehicle chase ended with their capture.
Dorr was released from prison and married again. She lives in Kansas City.
Dorr is against the death penalty and wants the world to know about Lisa Montgomery.
She said that she can't be quiet about the death penalty because it has a face of her friend.
Dorr and Montgomery were both in the same Pod at the for-profit federal facility in northeast Kansas in 2006 and 2007.
The execution of Lisa Montgomery was delayed by attorneys' COVID-19 cases.
Montgomery was waiting for the trial to start.
"Lisa was a good person who cared about the other women in the Pod and was quiet and generous and kind," Dorr said. I think that side of Lisa needs to be out there.
Montgomery was kept at arm's length by other inmates because of her brutality, but Dorr liked her quiet nature.
"She seemed like a real person I could connect with and build a relationship with inside prison," Dorr said.
Montgomery was put in a stable environment where she felt safe and was receiving her first psychiatric medication for the first time.
Dorr said that Montgomery did things with her hands, including writing, sewing, and making bookmarks.
Dorr said that Montgomery talked about the abuse she had suffered from her first husband, Carl Boman.
Second husband and half- sister want her to live.
Kevin Montgomery, Montgomery's second husband and still married to her, voiced his support for her bid for clemency in a statement released through her attorneys.
The water tower is a landmark in Melvern, the small city where Lisa Montgomery lived.
He said that he supports his wife's request for clemency, but that he is sick with COVID, and that he wants the media to respect his need for rest and privacy.
Diane Mattingly, Lisa Montgomery's half- sister, has taken a more high-profile role in trying to save her life. She has written for magazines.
When Mattingly attended Montgomery's sentencing hearing in 2007, she said Montgomery's face looked like it had been frightened when they were separated.
Mattingly was moved to a loving home with Floyd Gwin, his wife, Zella, and their three biological children.
She said that the family treated Mattingly as one of their own and gave her a sense of belonging. Floyd Gwin died at the age of 81 and Mattingly was listed as one of the survivors in his obituary. Zella Gwin is alive.
She said that Mattingly has enjoyed his life.
She has worked for the state of Kentucky for 19 years and is married with two adult children.
Mattingly wrote that being loved was a factor in her finding a husband and raising two children who have hearts of gold. The difference between Lisa and me is that no one ever tried to rescue Lisa from a lifetime of abuse.
She regretted not telling her foster family about being raped and beaten because they wouldn't want her anymore.
She wrote that Zella and Floyd could have gone back for Lisa if she had spoken up. Maybe she could have been saved.
A woman on federal death row is asking President Trump to commute her sentence.
Lawyers make a last-ditch appeal.
Mattingly said that President Donald Trump can break the chain of evil by granting clemency to Montgomery and other members of her family.
Henry said that the clemency process allows convicted criminals to request mercy and ask the nation's executive branch to step in. She said that the jury that recommended Montgomery's death sentence wasn't asked to consider the impact that would have on her children and children's children.
Montgomery's attorneys are asking the president to take into account whether or not Montgomery was mentally ill, since that jury wasn't directed to do so.
Henry said that federal authorities have administered Montgomery's anti-psychotic medication since her arrest.
If Mattingly could speak to Trump directly, she would tell him not to take my sister. She was broken by people who were supposed to care for her. She needs someone to be with her.
In the media.
Three books have been written about Lisa Montgomery's murder.
"Baby Be Mine: The Shocking True Story of a Woman Who Murdered a Pregnant Mother to Steal her Child" was written by Diane Fanning.
"Murder in the Heartland" was published in 2010.
"One Sick Bitch: The True Story of Lisa Montgomery" was written by Janet Crowder.
The case was featured on several shows.
"Fatal Obsession" was an episode of "Deadly Women."
The episodes "A Pound of Flesh" and "Small Town Requiem" were aired in August and September of 2019.
The article was originally published on the Capital-Journal.
